1968 Krakozhian political crisis
The 1968 Krakozhian political crisis, also known as the March 1968 events in Krakozhia, was a series of major protests undertaken primarily by students and intellectuals agains the government of the Krakozhian FPR. It is sometimes considered part of the 1968 protest movement in the Toy Islands. Background Political turmoil in the West during the late 1960s spread to the Eastern Bloc in the form of the Prague Spring beginning in January 1968. However, demonstrations in the East during 1968 focused on national sovereignty as opposed to in the West where protests focused on the freedom of the individual. In Krakozhia, a crisis had already been brewing regarding communist party control over academic life and the persecution of political activists. Krakozhia had also seen an uprising in 1953 and a localised protest in 1956. Protest in Tikomira In January 1968, the Central Committee of the Krakozhian Workers' Party decided to ban an upcoming drama festival at the National Theatre in Tikomira due to alleged anti-Tabi'atstani sentiments and support for religion. In response, in late February the Tikomira office of the Association of Writers of the Krakozhian FPR condemned the ban as well as general restrictions on freedom of speech, sparking off protests supporting them at the University of Tikomira on the 4th March with roughly 700 students attending. Repressions Beginning on the 7th March, a media campaign was initiated to attack the protestors, and mass rallies claimed to be spontaneous but organised by the government were held for the same purpose. However, top officials were initially reluctant to express their position on the events unfolding. At the same time, the protests had spread to other major cities in Krakozhia, igniting fears of a repeat of the uprising of 1953 and triggering police actions against protestors. In response, mass student strikes were held across the country from 10th to the 16th March, with attempts to organise student committees being made in Tikomira. Efforts to involve workers mostly failed, but in Motansk some 20,000 students and workers fought 3,700 men of the security forces in the evening of the 11th March. Finally, on the 15th March, First Secretary Ladislav Gorokhov announced that the government would not negotiate with the demonstrators and attacked senior activists. A few days later, the Minister of Internal Affairs NAME released an internal memo further denouncing the demonstrators. On the 21st March, the government ordered that several prominent members of faculty staff at the University of Tikomira to be fired, prompting students to release a declaration on the 24th March listing out various systematic reforms to be held in Krakozhia. In response, the government simply shut down various faculties and began drafting students into the military (some of these students were deployed to Györmár-Kazvhalia during the protests there in the same year). Furthermore, the next day over 2,500 people were arrested, and over 1,600 students were expelled from the university. Following these events, small scale protests continued for a while, but government had mostly brought the situation back under control. On the 18th April, a nationwide arrest campaign focusing on the major cities of Tikomira, Dubov, and Prezlav prevented further student activities, effectively putting an end to the crisis. Aftermath See also *1968 protests in the Toy Islands *June 1968 events in Györmár-Kazvhalia Category:Krakozhia Category:Politics of Krakozhia